Texas A&M Chooses Transas

Texas State Maritime Program (TAMUG) has selected the Buffalo Computer Graphics and Transas Marine USA team for the contract to replace their existing ship simulator. The new simulator complex will consist of a Transas Navi-Trainer Professional 3000 full mission ship simulator system with integrated GMDSS communications simulation capabilities, as well as full integration with the existing BCG PCS100 five-station ARPA/Radar simulator. Using Transas Marine's combination of simulation software, dedicated hardware (real ship controls) and commercial-off-the-shelf components, the simulator will be an ideal tool in the training and certification of United States Maritime Service Cadets. In addition, the Texas A&M Center for Maritime Training and Safety/Texas Engineering Extensive Service will also use the simulator in their continuing Education programs. Texas A&M University at Galveston is the marine sciences branch of prestigious Texas A&M University in College Station, the state's first public institution of higher learning founded in 1876. TAMUG is a highly specialized institution involved with both graduate and undergraduate education and research in all aspects of oceanic science. Its motto, "The Ocean Is Our Classroom," expresses the high degree of hands-on activity in the curriculum, working in the marshes, bay and deep water adjacent to our coastal campus. TAMUG undergraduates, who call themselves Sea Aggies, may elect to pursue, along with their undergraduate degrees, training toward their licenses as merchant marine officers. This involves three two-month summer cruises aboard the Texas Clipper II, with calls at ports in Europe, South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The ship simulator, due for 'christening' in January 2001, will meet USCG and IMO STCW training standards. It will also be designed to meet the latest Det Norske Veritas 'Standards for Certification of Maritime Simulator Systems' to Class A.